A11 Performance Blogs: Recipe and Nutrition

Here at A11 Performance, we believe in a holistic approach to training and performance. One of the ways we do this are through a balanced diet to fuel our bodies for the demand we put on them throughout the day. Our bodies are a machine and just as a machine needs fuel to run, our bodies need the correct fuel for the activities and training. In this series, we will give you some practical recipes that follow our guidelines. If you would like the get the full, in-depth breakdown of our nutrition plan, as well as recipes, check out the A11 Performance Cook Book over in the A11 Performance Store.

Before we start giving you some recipes to add into your meal plan we want to give you the foundations and the why's behind our meal plan. So here are some key principles we follow for all the A11 Performance Nutrition Plan recipes:

1. 40/30/30 Plan

We believe that a balanced diet is a key in recovery and performance, so we follow a 40/30/30 plan.

• 40% Complex Carbohydrates

  • Carbs are the quickest fuel for your workouts and activities for the day. We believe that not all carbs are created equal, so we want to stay with carbs that are below the Glycemic Index level of 60. 

  • Examples of some great carbs to eat or use in your recipes are steel-cut oats,.

• 30% Clean Protein

  • Protein is essential for muscle growth, so we want the cleanest proteins we can find. Organically fed meat, such as grass-fed steak or organic chicken are great.

  • We like to follow the rule of "Less legs, the better." Meaning, chicken is better than beef, but salmon is better than chicken, based on the number of legs the living animal has.

• 30% Fats

  • We want these fats to be smart fats, as opposed to trans fats or saturated fats. A good example would be avocado. This also includes the oils you use to cook in.

2. Number of meals per day

We like the standard 2-3 meals per day based on your nutritional needs and level of exertion for the day. Breakfast to boost your metabolism with either a smoothie or steel-cut oats is ideal. Lunch and dinner at about 6 hour windows with moderate exertion are good as well. Your largest meal should occur right before your biggest exertion of the day. For example, I am about to eat lunch and I have a 3-hour throwing an conditioning workout coming up soon, so lunch will be the biggest meal I will consume. But during the middle of this largest meal, I will pause to consume the daily supplements that I need to take to ensure full absorption into my body. 

Snacks in between meals are good if the level of exertion requires more fueling, but snacks must remain nutritious.

3. Supplements

For maximum performance, you need full absorption of daily nutrients. We suggest that you stop in the middle of your largest meal to take these supplements:

• Vitamin B12

• Vitamin D3 (Double prescribed amount)

• CoQ10 (Double the prescribed amount)

• L-Arginine (We like the Havasu Nutrition brand that adds in Citrulline)

• Fish Oil Supplement (Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega - Take 3x the prescribed amount)

• Men's Sport Multivitamin

• Probiotic

• Men's Sport Dietary Supplement

4. HYDRATION

For maximum performance we advise that all alcoholic, sugary and acidic beverages be removed from your diet. Beverages such as Powerade and Gatorade need to be removed as well, due to their high acidic value and their sugar content. We suggest that you drink water with an acidity level of 8.0+, with the ideal being 9.5+ pH, like our friends over at Essentia. The higher the number on a 10.0 scale, the more pure/less acidic the beverage is.

We have a simple formula to determine the amount of water you need to be drinking for high performance every day:

• Body weight in pounds x 2/3 = Number of ounces of water you need to consume.

So those were some basics to keep in mind as you read these amazing recipes. These principles are the keys to top athletic performance.

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